Here they come a rovin’ again

Irish Rovers hit the road for one last global tour after nearly half a century of music

The Irish Rovers, clockwise, from left: Geoffrey Kelly (flute), Wilcil McDowell, Fred Graham (bodhran), George Millar (guitar), Morris Crum, Ian Millar (guitar), and Sean O’Driscoll (banjo). The band is calling it quits after almost 50 years. The Farewell to Rov’in tour rolls through Nova Scotia, starting Oct. 10 in Mabou. (THE CANADIAN PRESS)

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Almost 50 years after founding the beloved Irish Rovers, frontman George Millar is still clearly enjoying himself as the group launches its last global tour from what he calls the most Celtic place outside the Emerald Isle.

“I was walking down the street the other night and every two or three steps there’s an Irish pub,” he said before playing a show last week in St. John’s, N.L.

“There’s more Irish music being played here in St. John’s right now than there is in all of Ireland. I hope they never change.”

Millar was just 16 and a newcomer to Canada in 1963 when he met fellow Irishman Jimmy Ferguson one night at a party in Toronto. Legend has it that they started singing together and didn’t stop until dawn. The foundation of what would become the Irish Rovers was set.

The band’s international fame grew during the ’60s as their sweet and still much requested hit The Unicorn topped the charts alongside the Beatles. In the ’70s, its six seasons on CBC’s The Irish Rovers Show was ritual television watching across Canada and featured guests such as Johnny Cash and Vera Lynn.

Later favourites such as Wasn’t That a Party and Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer renewed momentum.

More recently, the band’s full-throttle rendition of Drunken Sailor has been viewed more than 10.5 million times on YouTube.

After more than 40 albums and several trips around the world, Millar doesn’t hesitate when asked about the group’s extraordinary longevity.

“We like each other and we love the music. That’s what keeps you going. We still get those little nervous butterflies in our stomach right before we go on,” he said. “It’s that little bit of an edge that you need. Otherwise, you become blase and you end up looking like the Eagles sitting on stools.”

The band has evolved with the addition of various players over the years and was forever changed with the death of Ferguson, at 57, while on tour in 1997.

Its farewell tour includes renowned Irish fiddler Gerry O’Connor and Geoffrey Kelly, from Spirit of the West, on flute.

Shows are planned throughout Atlantic Canada until Christmas and across the U.S. in the new year before heading overseas to New Zealand and Australia. A grand finale concert will be held in Toronto, where it all began, sometime in 2015.

Steve Hussey of Fred’s Records in St. John’s is among many fans who were raised with the Irish Rovers.

“I know their stuff and grew up on it,” he said. “Wasn’t That a Party was a big one when I was coming of age. The Unicorn. There’s lots of good tunes. I like the old Irish stuff too, like Mick McGuire.”

Wilcil McDowell, who has played accordion with the group for 46 years, said it’s not that the Rovers are saying goodbye for good. There are plans for new recordings, a song book and an anthology of the band’s work.

“We’re not going away. What we are going to stop doing is long tours, like six or seven weeks,” he said. “The travelling, that’s the tiring part of it. The actual playing and doing the shows is no problem whatsoever.”

McDowell smiles when he reflects on a musical life of roving the world over.

“There’s no age limit in Irish music. You can be 20 years old, you can be 70 years old. You can continue forever — while you’re alive, that is.”

Millar echoed that thought.

“As my mother used to say before she passed away, ‘There is no rest for the wicked, George.’ And I said, ‘I think you’re right.’”